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Deadliest year for Iraq troops
31/12/2007 14:19 - (SA)
Bradley Brooks
Baghdad - The second half of 2007 saw violence drop dramatically in Iraq, but the progress came at a high price: The year was the deadliest for the US military since the 2003 invasion, with 898 troops killed.
American commanders and diplomats, however, say the battlefield gains against insurgents such as al-Qaeda in Iraq offer only a partial picture of where the country stands as the war moves toward its five-year mark in March.
Two critical shifts that boosted US-led forces in 2007 - a self-imposed cease-fire by a main Shi'ite militia and a grassroots Sunni revolt against extremists - could still unravel unless serious unity efforts are made by the Iraqi government.
Iran a 'wild card'
Iran also remains a major wild card. US officials believe the neighbouring country has helped quiet Iraq by reducing its flow of suspected aid to Shi'ite fighters, including materials needed for deadly roadside bombs.
But Iran's apparent hands-off policies could come under strain as Shi'ite factions - some favouring Iran, others not - battle for control of Iraq's oil-rich south.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, will increasingly look to the uneven Iraqi security forces to carry the load in 2008 as demands for an American exit strategy grow sharper during the US election year.
Britain, the main US coalition partner in Iraq, is gradually drawing down its forces and other allies, including Poland and Australia, are contemplating full-scale withdrawals in the coming year.
"We're focusing our energy on building on what coalition and Iraqi troopers have accomplished in 2007," General David Petraeus told a group of Western journalists on Saturday. "Success will not, however, be akin to flipping on a light switch. It will emerge slowly and fitfully, with reverses as well as advances, accumulating fewer bad days and gradually more good days."
That arc of progress played out in the raw statistics of US and Iraqi casualties.
American military deaths peaked in May with 126 troops killed. It was then that the US began ramping up its attacks against insurgent strongholds, leading to increased clashes in Baghdad and other key areas across central Iraq.
Seven months on, commanders and analysts say America's aggressive strategy of targeting al-Qaeda in Iraq strongholds is paying off: US casualties have dropped sharply. As of Sunday night in Baghdad, December had seen 20 deaths, matching February 2004 as the lowest monthly total of the war.
Highest death toll
The 898 deaths in 2007 surpassed the previously highest death toll in 2004, when 850 US soldiers were killed. The total for 2007 could rise slightly; occasionally the military reports new casualties a few days after they occur.
At least 3 901 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the war. Of those, at least 3 175 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.
Iraqi civilian deaths have tracked that decline and overall violence across the country is down roughly 60%, American commanders say.
Along with the increase in American troops, Iraq's lessening violence has been attributed to a self-imposed freeze on activities by the Mahdi Army - the militia of radical Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.
Another important change was the quick growth of mostly Sunni anti-al-Qaeda in Iraq groups, or "awakening councils," who once fought against US and Iraqi forces but now point their guns toward the insurgents.
Iraqi civilian deaths also peaked in May with 2 155 killed. That fell to 718 in November and 710 in December. For the year, 18,610 Iraqis were killed. In 2006, the only other full year an AP count has been tallied, 13 813 civilians were killed.
Civilian deaths are compiled by the AP from hospital, police and military officials, as well as accounts from reporters and photographers. Insurgent deaths were not included. Other counts differ and some have given higher civilian death tolls.
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